


The Sun, the Moon, and the Rain that Follows

by CeeceePepper



Series: Pokemon Sun and Moon [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Depression isn't pretty, F/M, Kind of hinted Hau/Gladion if you squint, M/M, Other, and because i ship hau and gladion one-sided oops, but nothing SUPER explicit, just a comfort fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-29 20:22:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10861398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeeceePepper/pseuds/CeeceePepper
Summary: The blond sits beside him, silent with tired eyes as he watches the television flicker at the pause menu from his video game.At some point, Gladion began to cry, and behind the pitter-patter of the rain against the glass windows, there’s sniffling and quiet sobbing into a towel from a soul that’s been battered far too much. Hau doesn’t speak, simply moves to hold Gladion close and run his fingers through his hair; they get caught, as Gladion hasn’t brushed the blond matt on his head in days, perhaps even a week or so.He won’t ask, because Gladion won’t remember, he has too much on his mind.It's always too much.---Hurt/comfort Hau and Gladion fic, set when they're 15ish years old, after everything has happened in Sun/Moon. Drabble. Goes with the song 'Fragile': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmmSK54IR9U





	The Sun, the Moon, and the Rain that Follows

The ocean waves were what woke Hau up in the morning. He saw the daylight, he saw the trees by the horizon, he saw the bird Pokemon that chirped and cawed. He saw kids playing with their parents, saw Pokemon battles, he saw everything that he wanted to. It was the way he liked to wake up; he grew that bright smile of his every day, every morning.

 

He had come back from the island challenge. His friends Elio and Selene had finished their island challenge, and with the drama that had come from beating Lusamine and fetching their friend Lillie back, Hau was more than happy to go home and breathe for a bit. Given, that had been years ago, and their little friend group had dispersed, but still. He woke up every morning to that same ocean he loved, and he wouldn't trade it for the world. It was every now and again, though, that weather would roll in, and the perfect Alolan sunlight he was used to seeing wouldn't be showing up so much.

 

He was fifteen, now. He was older, working towards being an Island Kahuna, his ultimate dream. It was raining, and he watched from his livingroom, seeing the water drop down and trickle gently against the glass pane, music playing softly to the tones that played off the weather, like a mixture of calmness that gave Hau a quiet spirit. He hums to it, playing on his Nintendo and petting at his decidueye, who was always choosing to be out. He hears a knock at his door, and he carries himself up slowly after pausing his game. The alolan boy goes to his door, checks through the peep hole, and unlocks the door; he knows the figure behind it all too well.

 

Hau lets Gladion in; he's looking awful, all soaking wet like that. Hau doesn't say anything, just runs to his bathroom to snatch a towel and come back, wrapping his old friend in it. The blond is shivering, his pale skin damp and dripping, his body soaked from head to toe from the rain. He hasn't changed much, besides getting the growth spurt that hadn't come to Hau yet. Hau had just put on a little weight, from all the malasada, and hadn't cut his hair; Gladion had darker circles under his eyes, probably from the lack of sleep and healthy food, and while Hau pats his poorly-trimmed hair dry, there seems to be something aching inside his old companion. He doesn't let him bother him, and he allows Gladion to take his shoes off and be invited in, Hau shutting the door and locking it behind himself. He watches Gladion drop the singular bag on his back to the dirty ground that is already collecting mud from Gladion’s old shoes.

 

He knows what's wrong. It's always like this. Depression is an ugly little gremlin, and it's plagued his friend like the Black Death since they had met, for good reason. Gladion's always struggled with his self image, trying to find himself in a world that constantly spit him back out to the wolves despite his best efforts to try and help or fix anything. Lillie had gone away, and Elio didn't want to hang around him anymore; Gladion had picked up enough bad habits to drive the boy away. Hau still stayed around, though, knowing he was really all Gladion had. Selene had picked up a few habits as well, and the two constantly floated around the idea of romance, but it was superficial -- something created from the fact that both were lonely and desperately seek attention from the few they hung with, but sadly, it hardly ever worked out by morning, and they'd break off again to be off on their own adventures. Gladion's usually entailed smoking under a bridge with old ex-Skulls, or smoking some plants, or something along those lines. He wasn't doing good, and it always made Hau sad to see Gladion like this.

 

When Gladion was dry, he came into the livingroom to view what Hau was doing. Hau knew he hadn't eaten, the boy never did, so he quickly looked for some berries and chattered about the game he was playing. He finished gathering, and brought it over on a plate, setting Gladion down on the sofa beside him. Decidueye decides it was time to go back into it's pokeball, when the blond sits beside him, silent with tired eyes as he watches the television flicker at the pause menu.   
  
Hau asks what happened this time. Gladion doesn’t answer. Hau doesn’t push the issue, offering the plate of fruit. Gladion shyly takes one, starting to eat at a pecha berry from the plate. He likes the sweet taste of it, he always has. Hau likes cheri berries, and eats at some of those from the plate. He offers one to Gladion, in the hopes he may cheer up, but he doesn’t accept it. They sit like that for a while, eating.

 

At some point, Gladion began to cry, and behind the pitter-patter of the rain against the glass windows, there’s sniffling and quiet sobbing into a towel from a soul that’s been battered far too much. Hau doesn’t speak, simply moves to hold Gladion close and run his fingers through his hair; they get caught, as Gladion hasn’t brushed the blond matt on his head in days, perhaps even a week or so. He won’t ask, because Gladion won’t remember, he has too much on his mind. A head falls limply to his shoulder, and he leans his own against it, Gladion hunched over and curled up with the towel. A dark hand comes up to hold him, hugs him close, sways him to the sound of the rain. Hau doesn’t question it, won’t press or push the issue. When Gladion stops crying, it’s just ugly choking noises, nothing like what the movies or books had portrayed. Eventually, that, too, grows silent, and there is only the sounds of breathing above the clattering rain, which has begun to pick up and pour heavily to the beaches and area of Hau’s home. The Hala won’t be home for a while, as he’s helping with the island challenges.

 

He reminisces about the old days, and though Hau misses being a true child, he wouldn’t trade it. Gladion was more reserved back then, and they weren’t as close. Gladion hadn’t originally liked Hau, but soon as the number of their friend group began to dwindle, the two stuck together like two peas in a pod. Hau was always there to hold Gladion’s hand and lead him through, even if Gladion never accepted his hand again, he would still keep it out there if he ever needed it. 

 

Eventually Gladion has grown tired and exhausted from all his crying, and Hau understands. He abandons the berries, letting decidueye come out of it’s ball to eat the remainder of the berries as he leads Gladion up the same path they’d taken far too many times. He lets Gladion crash in his small bed, curling up under the newly-cleaned sheets in a home that was more comfortable than anything Gladion had ever been offered, a safe haven, a sanctuary where he would be okay. Hau sat to the side, petting Gladion’s head and watching as blond eyelashes fell upon cool colored eyes, his fluffy hair so matted he wishes he could take a brush to it. Hau watches as Gladion drifts off, listening to the rain like a lullaby and Hau’s short hums of tunes that they have long since forgotten. When he’s asleep, Hau goes to action, going back to his door. He retrieves Gladion’s bag, and goes around his home to make sure Gladion will be safe on his next travels. He gives him a spare hair brush, packs some berries, and when he goes to change and wash out what’s in the bag, what’s inside makes his heart sink a little. There’s a book, a small one covered with a plastic bag: it’s the book Gladion carried with all the photos from the summer they all met. It’s got everything in it, too, not just photos. There’s letters filed away in it as well, from back and forth of his sister sending them and a love letter from Selene, but Hau doesn’t read it. It’s too personal. There’s a mimikyuu plushie, and some bandanas. He washes the bandana, and fixes a hole in the plushie, and puts it all neatly back in the bag the way he found the items. He includes a few other things, and brings the bag upstairs for his companion.

  
Gladion snores softly when he sleeps, like an asthmatic kitten, and Hau loves to hear it’s small beat. His bed is always warm, but his room is naturally rather cold, but not cold enough to be uncomfortable. A cool mid-way, just enough to softly nip at your skin. He eventually lays down beside his friend, but doesn’t get under the blanket, content to just wrap a free arm around him and let Gladion know he’s safe. Decidueye comes back upstairs at some point to curl up at watch at the end of Hau’s bedpost, a guard for in case Hala comes back or for if someone tries to intrude.

 

When Hau wakes up the next morning, Gladion is not beside him. The bag is gone, and while the rain has subsided, the sun peeks through his curtains like a beam of hope that will sadly never reach his friend. He knows that. Gladion will take an entire army to ever believe he is safe and alright; it is not because he is stubborn, no, but it is more that his mind has been ironed and rewired to believe that perhaps he is unlovable, that perhaps he is worthless, and that all he is good for is smoking plants under the bridge with ex-Skulls, that all he is good for is ending up at Hau’s front door like a lost soul wishing for someone to tape him back together. Hau may sew his heart back together for singular nights every once and a while, but sometimes, Hau runs out of thread, and he has to come up with new ways to patch it up.

 

He knows it isn’t pretty, seeing his friend like that. It isn’t beautiful; it’s disgusting, it’s ugly, it’s awful. He never experiences the depressive times that Gladion always seems to be deeply rutted into, but he wishes to be the safe haven that Gladion considers to be home. And when things aren’t so bad, when moon-colored fingers hold onto his and hold him close and weep that he will never see anybody or anything more perfect than Hau, he knows that Gladion is at least in the same train of thought. He is okay with being the distraction. He is alright with being the safe haven. Hau was always considered the optimist. He looks out the window, and pats the head of his ever-waking owl pokemon that dislikes looking at the light. He finds somewhere in his heart, the compassion and want to love and help Gladion out. So each time he ends up at his doorstep, he will never shut that door on his friend. The mud that is dried at his front door at least lets him know that Gladion is around, somewhere, and he will be back. He is okay with it being this way. His friend will be back to let him be loved, will open someday, like a flower in bloom; the times have hardened him, but he knows the softness of the boy inside.

 

He knows that his heart will always feel ugly, but to Hau, Gladion is everything but.


End file.
